The Israel Police have opened an investigation after threatening letters were sent to lawmakers of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition, the Channel 12 News broadcaster reported on Wednesday afternoon.
The probe, led by the Lahav 433 National Unit for International Crimes, has been placed under a gag order, according to a police statement.
However, several Knesset members told Channel 12 News that the letters contained serious threats related to their work as legislators.
“I received an unusual threat letter that included personal information about my family. It said something like, ‘You’ll vote this way or that, and if not, something will probably happen to your family,'” Shalom Danino of Netanyahu’s Likud Party said in conversation with the broadcaster.
“The letter required the arrival of the hazardous materials unit, police forces, bomb squad and medical services due to concerns that it was a dangerous incident,” he said, adding that the missive named his wife, daughters, nieces and nephews. “Everything printed and organized,” he said.
A spokesman for Moshe Roth of the United Torah Judaism Party told Channel 12 News that the haredi coalition lawmaker also received a letter.
“MK Roth did not open the letter. He felt that it contained grains or some kind of powder, so he turned to the Knesset guard, who requested that a police complaint be filed. The police arrived and took the letter,” he said.
In February 2024, an organization called “The Israeli Avengers” sent letters threatening the lives of coalition lawmakers and their families.
The letters held the government responsible for failing to prevent the Hamas-led massacre on Oct. 7, 2023, in which 1,200 Israelis, mostly civilians, were murdered by Palestinian terrorists from Gaza.
The letters reportedly listed the addresses and identity numbers of the lawmakers, as well as the names and numbers of their family members.
“Children and grandchildren will also be harmed, in relation to the number of the fallen,” the letters read, referring to those killed on Oct. 7.
The Knesset said that the letter was handed over to the Knesset Guard “and passed on to the relevant authorities, including the Israel Police.”